New YA: January 17.

Fun stuff. Not only does it feature time travel (yay!) and Jackson's ever-increasing powers over it, it's also got a secret maybe-evil-maybe-not time traveling society, some CIA shenanigans, combat training, and a good amount of nausea. Also, there's romance of the he-knows-her-in-the-future-when-he's-twenty-one-and-she's-of-age-but-now-he's-in-the-past-and-still-twenty-one-but-she's-seventeen-so-that's-weird-but-also-sort-of-fun/creepy-because-he's-got-the-upper-hand-in-that-he-knows-all-of-her-likes-and-dislikes-and-also-he's-pretending-to-be-poor-and-also-hiding-the-fact-that-he's-from-the-future-and-that-her-life-might-be-in-danger variety.

Although the synopsis makes it sound like forty bazillion other paranormals, Fracture is different. Yes, yes, Delaney is attracted to Troy (the mysterious dude), and yes, yes, there's a push-and-pull-and-push between her, Decker, and Troy. But it's not the same-old-same-old love triangle that we've come to expect in paranormals. The dynamics are different, and it's less about lurrrve and hormones and more about power, choice, and survival.

Fair or not, while reading, rather than looking at Wildthorn alone, I kept comparing it to Sarah Waters' Fingersmith. And, in my defense, there are some pretty obvious parallels. So, for me, Wildthorn read like a really, really diluted Fingersmith—it was missing the atmosphere, the passion, the subtlety, the complexity, the flair.

The problem with Mad Love is that it has so many threads that none of them feel satisfying: Alice’s romance with Tony. Alice’s relationship with Errol. Errol’s relationship with the girls of Velvet’s Temple of Beauty. Alice’s feelings about her mother’s bipolar disorder, the consequences of hiding it from the world, and her fears that she will inherit it. Alice’s attempt to write a novel in three weeks. Realm’s blackmail plot. Realm’s anorexia. Mrs. Bobot’s unrequited love. Rev. Ruttles’ disrespectful treatment of Archibald. There may have been more. Oh! Right. Alice’s MAGICAL ABILITY TO SEE PEOPLES’ AURAS.Amazon | Indiebound.